Friday, January 11, 2013

Gov. Bobby Jindal is proposing to eliminate Louisiana's income and corporate taxes and pay for those cuts with increased sales taxes, the governor's office confirmed Thursday. The governor's office has not yet provided the details of the plan."The bottom line is that for too long, Louisiana's workers and small businesses have suffered from having a state tax structure that is too complex and that holds back economic prosperity," Jindal said in a statement released by his office. "It's time to change that so people can keep more of their own money and foster an environment where businesses want to invest and create good-paying jobs."

They've "suffered"? Really? And that's supposedly why the state economy has struggled? Bullshit. It's struggling, and will continue to struggle, for any number of reasons, but terrible education and health systems obviously have a lot to do with it.He can spin it any way he wants, but all he's doing here is embracing the absolute anti-tax and pro-rich orthodoxy of the Republican Party, likely in anticipation of a run for president in 2016, shifting the tax burden down onto the lower and middle classes. Because higher sales taxes -- which would have to be really high -- would disproportionately impact those further down on the income scale.As Echidne writes:

Sales taxes are more regressive than income taxes, which means that if
Louisiana actually follows Jindal's proposal, lower-income people will
pay more than now and higher-income people will pay less than now. Because of this regressive nature, many sales tax systems omit the tax
for necessities, such as basic food and shelter. But if Louisiana
decided to do that, to avoid really hurting the poorest, then the
average sales tax would have to be made even higher.

Would the wealthy benefit, both individuals and businesses alike? Yes, in a way, though they'd be living and operating in a state with a collapsing social structure.In other words, Jindal is just flexing his right-wing bona fides. It's what Republicans do. What else is new?